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The desks do not have free sides/edges. Desks do come with shelves that can either be placed on top or taken off the desk (depending on how much space is in your room). Most students attach clip-on lamps to that shelf or on another piece of furniture near their desks (eg. bookcase, etc).</p>
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Many people go abroad with just the language skills they learn at Wellesley, so if you start at the 100-level, you would have two years by the time you go abroad in your junior year. I think most programs specify at least two years of language knowledge; some programs want three years of study though so you have to look at what specific programs you are interested in.</p>
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I think as long as you either take French at Wellesley (and have a good foundation of the language along with strong speaking skills) or you have French in your background, then you can apply to live in the French House. You definitely need to have some knowledge of the language. Here is some more info on the house and the application process:
[Bienvenue</a> a la Maison Francaise](<a href=“http://www.wellesley.edu/French/Maison/information.html]Bienvenue”>http://www.wellesley.edu/French/Maison/information.html)</p>
<p>The house is open to sophomores, juniors and seniors. And I believe most of the rooms are singles or doubles. I have heard it is very spacious!</p>
<p>Also, the website for the French House has links to floorplans and pictures of the rooms. In the main house, if you look at rooms 206 and 207 (and possibly others…I haven’t gone through the whole site), you can see pictures of the basic furniture along with the desks and shelves I mentioned in my answer to your first question.</p>